lonefisher

Talbot lake can be fun for pike if you feel like it. Pyramid lake is a great setting and usually sees some good rising in the evening it has rainbows, lakers and whities. I caught some of all those species off the surface there last night. Not my first laker on a fly but my first one on a dry fly. What a blast. What griz says is spot on. Maligne lake is definately the destination if you have good weather. But you would be advised to get a guide on maligne, not crucial but it would help big time

I am ok with a tag system for bull trout on 2 conditions 1. you may only keep a bull trout caught with your bare hands while they are tied behind your back, and 2. the bull trout get to be armed with fricken laser beams attached to their heads. bwahahaha bwahhahaha bwahahahahahhahaha bwahahahahhahaha bwahahaa bwahah bwaha

Toolman showed me the importance of keeping your rod tip high when fighting a big fish and I have found it can sometimes be the difference. Including what he said about it keeping the pressure from above I find it also keeps the bow outta the line that is caused by the fish running to your right or to your left..... it will also help to keep your line from snaggin stuff. I'm may be repeating what he said in different words though. I have also found that if the fish runs directly away from you then it is easy to keep em tight, but if they run to your left or right then they creat a curve in your fly line. This usually happens right after the hookset. I found that the first impulse when a fish runs to your right and forms that curve is to follow him with yourself and your rod tip to the right trying to strip that curve back tight. After thinking about it I decided to do the opposite so when a fish runs to my right and forms that curve of line (future slack if you don't tighten it up) I will hop a couple steps to the left while moving the rod tip to the left. This moves you and your rod tip away from the fish and I think will keep the pressure on better and straighten the line better while you get your line outta the water and tight again..... Then of course you are free to follow the fish which as everyone has noted is the way to do things....... Other then that I like to basically keep the pressure constant...... jerkyness could work that hook loose, slack line will get spit and to much high pressure- low pressure - high pressure- low pressure might weaken you line or knots and result in a break off, I don't bow to jumpers I think that having your tip high and good pressure your rod will flex to absorb the fishs' headshakes ect as he is airborne without breaking him off........ This is all of course just my opinion and I am in no way an authority on landing big fish, But these are things that I usually associate with my successful fish battles. Just read that over again and I hope my gibberish doesn't confuse people

Opening day I did not find (catch) fish in the intermediate or summer lies only in the wintering or deeper pools and tailouts...... Doesn't mean they weren't there but I wasn't catching them. Didn't fish the surface but did have a hit on my corky. Dries I find are more a daily deal.... if they are hatching the fish will be looking up. With the exception of a couple of small mayflys there was no bug activity above the surface on the 16th when I hit the highwood. The fish seemed to prefer a very slow presentation so a big upstream mend seemed to be the way to go with a lot of weight to get her down. I know that generally you do want to have the upstream mend so that your flies are travelling slower then the surface current speed but I found that this needed to be more exagerated then later in the year........ Don't know if that helps at all but.......

yeah that test isn't so simple It got me with 2 last time I took it. The juve bull and the first rmw I called him a lakewhitefish...... Just took it again only 1 wrong and the whitefish got me again....... but other then that 95%

steal a car sell for parts and buy a 2000$ rod whatever brand. who needs to test a rod. Sometimes the faster it gets The less you need to know But you gotta remember The smarter it gets the further it's going to go When you blow at high dough. My life the broadway musical

It might be possible to accidently miss the signs if you are not looking for them so just make sure you find and understand one of the little map sign post things so you know where not to fish. It is fairly well marked though

I have been doing pretty well catatonic leeching anywhere where there is a bit of current IE inflows, outflows, creeks ect. There are many days though when the way to go is big streamers moving fast or sometimes dragged slow along the bottom. Make sure you stay outta the closed bay on the lower. I like the lower better as the fish are all big and considering that my smallest fish outta the lower ever was a 17inchish rainbow (as far as memory serves) I do mean bigger but the lower hands out skunkings on a regular basis and can be hot and cold. Work the different depths and try to find where they are hitting...... lather rinse and repeat

Don't feel too bad LK Glen ribs all his flys with bacon sorry bud I had to out ya. I am of course just kidding. So sounds like they are hitting deeper now eh? Might have to pack the sink tip next time I head out there. PS nice bloody fish

Ai the lower kananaskis she be a fickle mistress.......... as warm as a tavern lass one day colder the a kilt wearin scotmans bottom on christmas day the next.

Just curious will that change allow you to float that stretch or will the weir area still be impassable. I'm not overly familiar with this hazard

Nice....... Looks like an absolute blast

Looking forward to hearing a report guys. Drove out myself this morn to have a look around and to show a friend the lakes. Didn't have time to fish but the lower lake seemed ok but the upper was windy. Hope you guys managed to hook some brutes

I would agree replicas are actually pretty damn nice. I will see if I can find a link to one of the better guys I have seen

I am not trying to be arguementative (sp) but limit of 5 on whities everywhere on the bow means there is absolutely nothing illegal in slitting one open....... This thread is imho very elitist and despite the fact that I like to treat my fish a bit better then they do they have broken no rules that I have seen and they appear to be catch and release anglers (well on the trout anyways) which is better then poachers...... Like fisher26 said I feel that these are the sort of guys that may be reachable with communication and and constructive comments....... Name calling is not gonna help....... Just my opinion though. Just outta curiosity does anyone know what sort of an increase in mortality one would see in a bleeding fish as opposed to one that is not bleeding? But yeah they should really invest in a net and seeing the one guys big screen tv you gotta wonder why they don't have one Bow River (see Map below ) from Banff National Park downstream to Hwy 1 Bridge near Canmore & tributaries except Canmore and Policeman creeks – Open all year. Apr. 1 to Mar. 31 – Brook Trout limit 2; Other trout limit 0; Mountain Whitefish limit 5 over 30 cm; Maggots are the only bait allowed and only in the river from Aug. 16 to Oct. 31. from Hwy 1 Bridge downstream to Pigeon Creek, & tributaries Apr. 1 to Sept. 30 – Brook Trout limit 2; Other trout limit 0; Mountain Whitefish limit 5 over 30 cm; Maggots are the only bait allowed and only in the river from Aug. 16 to Sept. 30. Oct. 1 to Mar. 31 – CLOSED from Pigeon Creek downstream to the first dam below Hwy 1X Bridge (near Seebe) including reservoir, & tributaries except the Kananaskis River – Open all year. Apr. 1 to Mar. 31 – Brook Trout limit 2; Other trout limit 0; Mountain Whitefish limit 5 over 30 cm; Maggots are the only bait allowed and only in the river from Aug. 16 to Oct. 31. from the first dam below Hwy 1X downstream to Bearspaw Reservoir (not including the reservoir), & tributaries except Ghost River and Jumpingpound Creek Apr. 1 to June 15 – Trout limit 0; Mountain Whitefish limit 5 over 30 cm; Bait Ban June 16 to Oct. 31 – Trout limit 2 over 35 cm; Mountain Whitefish limit 5 over 30 cm; Maggots are the only bait allowed and only in the river from Aug. 16 to Oct. 31. Nov. 1 to Mar. 31 – CLOSED from Bearspaw Dam downstream to Western Headworks Diversion (W.H.D.) Weir (including the Elbow River below Glenmore Reservoir). CLOSED Apr. 1 to May 31 and Oct. 1 to Nov. 30 June 1 to Sept. 30 and Dec. 1 to Mar. 31 – Trout limit 1 under 35 cm; All trout over 35 cm must be released; Mountain Whitefish limit 5 over 30 cm; Maggots are the only bait allowed and only in the river from Aug. 16 to Sept. 30. from the Western Headworks Diversion (W.H.D.) Weir downstream to the Carseland Weir (includes 500 m of the Highwood River) but excluding all waters in the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary (see Inglewood Bird Sanctuary) – Open all year. Apr. 1 to Mar. 31 – Trout limit 1 under 35 cm; All trout over 35 cm must be released; Mountain Whitefish limit 5 over 30 cm; Bait Ban. from Carseland Weir downstream to the Hwy 24 Bridge (downstream side) CLOSED Apr. 1 to May 31 and Oct. 1 to Nov. 30 June 1 to Sept. 30 and Dec. 1 to Mar. 31 – Trout limit 1 under 35 cm; All trout over 35 cm must be released; Mountain Whitefish limit 5 over 30 cm; Pike limit 3 (no size limit); Bait Ban. from Hwy 24 Bridge downstream to Bassano Dam, including Bassano Reservoir (Fish Management Zone 2, Watershed Unit PP1) – Open all year. Apr. 1 to Mar. 31 – Trout limit 1 under 35 cm; All trout over 35 cm must be released; Mountain Whitefish limit 5 over 30 cm; Pike limit 3 over 63 cm; Bait Ban.

Pretty sure thats a whitie in the pic but I could be wrong

Glen is right they seem to like to hit suspended flies even if its a fly that you would normally associate with movement...... like an 8 inch bucktail, clousers, zonkers...... but thats not alway the case. Just make sure you are ready first cast cause the first cast in an area often results in a strike so be ready.

"say if you weren't targeting bulls, but bows and cutts what should a guy do? too busy fishing to go buy streamers and thinking of headed that way. Thanks! " chironomids, leechs, shrimp, and maybe some attractor wet flys......... and white wooly buggers size 2-10....... you could try dries if they are rising but....... It seems to be a tough dry fly lake.......

Yes Glen yesterday was a very very expensive trip to the highwood....... coulda stayed home and bought a high end fly rod myself........ Luckily that stick pierced only my waders instead of my entire rectum. Coupled with your rod and the other wading incident and my drive home we coulda hired a guide broke all his stuff and had a chauffer for the trip. Next time I get the bright idea to go fishing someone smack the crap outta me LOL

don't be afraid to try some small stuff either like leechs, small minnow patterns, aquatic invertibrates like say maybe shrimp....... But yeah for the most part the bulls like bigger stuff. Just change it up till you find the pattern or the colour they like.

That was a fun morning Glen glad those pics turned out pretty good. Wish i had had time to spend the whole day out there.

fresh snow on the big rocks as well......... doesn't seem to be the right time of year for the snowpack to be getting bigger lol

Well that is in a way a happy ending to this story. Did you get a chance to tell the little prick off? I hope so. But anyways looks like it will work out OK. Your right he will likely be out by the time he is 20 if he even serves time but every once in a while they do make charges stick and put people away for a reasonable amount of time. Fingers crossed

crappy to hear about that........ Sounds like they had you scoped out and we waiting for a night when you didn't use the steering lock..... Had the same sorta thing happen with my mtn bike last year locked it all the time finally one day I left it unlocked in front of my truck in underground parking for like 2 hours and it was gone....... Bastards

interestingly enough we have noticed the same thing with a fair number of bulls outta the upper k lake..... well atleast Glenbow has..... he catchs all the handicapped fish